The Pain Within
by panthera nocte
Summary: When Ed comes back form a mission, Roy can't waie.But Ed acts different. Roy's worried that something is wrong with Ed. Could the teen be sick or worse. Rated M for later Chapters
1. At First

Ok, this is my first fanfic so I have no idea how it'll turn out. Anyway, here it is.

_Italics_ thoughts

Chapter 1: At First

It was another cold rainy November day in Central and Colonel Roy Mustang was starting to feel like he belonged in a mental ward. The only thing that had kept him sane today was the fact that Fullmetal was coming back form a mission today and Roy would be able to taunt him about his height and lack of it, when he handed in his report.

As if Hawkeye had read his mind- "Sir, Major Elric is jeer to see you."

"Thank you. Send him in." said Roy as he placed his trademark smirk in place when he saw the short blond enter his office.

"I'll be with you in one moment Fullmetal, just let me move this stack of papers so I can see you." Roy announced, looking forward to the young alchemists outburst.

"I'm not short you egotistical Colonel bastard."

At this, Roy's' smirk faded into a concerned frown. He had expected Ed to blow up at him like the teen usually did. What was going on? Was Ed sick of something?

He'd only been gone a week on a simple mission. What could Ed have gotten himself into in such a short time?

"How'd the mission go Fullmetal? I see you caught the thief like you were supposed to, but anything else happen?" Roy said trying to sound uninterested.

"Read the damn report." Ed said coldly as he sunk into a nearby chair.

"Well, besides the fact that you hand writing hasn't improved since the invention of the typewriter, this is udder crap." Roy replied after skimming the document. He hoped that the shrimp would start on one of his rants about how 'a much of a bastard the Colonel was and how he couldn't appreciate a master piece of work, blah, blah, blah.

The answer was short and to the point." Redo it yourself. I just got back and I'm tired." Edward mumbled. Once he said this, Roy noticed things that he hadn't before. The short blonde fiery eyes were now glazed over and dimmed.

"Edward, are you alright?" Roy asked, trying to hide his worry.

"Muhum." Was the sole reply. Roy decided to drop the subject and sent Ed back to the dorms.

"Go get some shuteye Fullmetal. Dismissed." But the teen never heard him. Ed was curled up in his coat in the chair he had chosen to sit in.

"Fullmetal?! Wake up!" no response. "Wake up Edward." Still nothing. . . "Hey shrimp, rise and shine!" nothing. _Wow he must have been really tired_. Roy thought as he picks up Ed and set him on the couch. _He'll probably be gone by the time I get back_, he thought again as the left to hand in some paper work and get more coffee, but not before draping a blanket over the small teen and turning off the lights.

About two hours later in Roy's office:

When Roy came back, he had expected the short blond to have woken up and left, but low and behold, Ed was still asleep on the couch and hadn't moved an inch. Roy had had enough. Edward should go back to his own bed and continue his nap there.

"Edward, wake up. You need to go back to your room and go to bed there." Roy said gently as he touched Ed shoulder.

Edward whimpered when Roy touched his shoulder and let out a few weak coughs. "What do you want?" Ed said groggily, slowly waking up.

"You should go back to the dorms and get some more sleep there, you'll be more comfortable." Roy replied.

A sigh that sounded like" fine" was heard as the teen slowly got up and headed towards the office door.

"Do want to call Al so he can come and take you there?" Roy asked.

"No. He's in Risenbol for a few weeks." Ed called weakly over his shoulder after he let out another cough.

_I hope you're ok Edward_, thought Roy as he started on his new paper work.

Well, that's the end of chapter 1. What did you think? I live getting mail, even flames. The next chapter will most likely be up sometime this week.

Panthera Nocte


	2. Where is He?

I'm back! Thanks to all of you who reviewed, I love you all! I know you all have been waiting so here's chapter # 2: "Where is he?"

* * *

Last Chapter:

"How'd the mission go Fullmetal?"

"Edward, are you alright?"

"Go get some shuteye Fullmetal."

_I hope you're ok Edward_.

* * *

The next day:

"And this is my precious Elysia wearing her mommy's hat and this one is of her riding her new tricycle and this is her…"

A "SHUT UP HUGHES!!!" could be heard at the other end of central. The gun shot rang even louder.

"Oh come on Roy. Don't you want to see the most beautiful little girl ever?" Hughes asked with stars in his eyes.

"NO!"

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I said so. Now shut up!" Roy yelled in hysteria as Hughes and Hawkeye rolled their eyes.

"Whatever Roy." Hughes laughed as he walked over to the door. "By the way, have either of you seen Edward today? Gracia was wondering if he and Al wanted to stop by for dinner sometime this week."

Before anyone could reply, Havoc started yelling about some stupid little thing so Hawkeye had to go and shoot at him.

(Bang!!!) "Ahhhhh!!! Run away!" Havoc had left the building with the furious blonde running after him still shooting.

"Okie dokie. Sooooo, my question still hasn't been answered." Hughes said, still trying not to laugh.

"Well, he came back from a mission yesterday and came in here to hand in his report." Roy said coolly.

"Did he say he was going to stay in central for a few days or what?" The Lieutenant Colonel asked casually while flipping threw a few more pictures.

"I don't know. When he came in, he was tired and moody so I sent him back to the dorms to get some sleep. I never got a chance to ask him." Replied Roy as he remembered yesterday and the fireless eyes of the blond teen.

"Ok. Well, he should be here at 8am for work and it's 7:55am now so he should get here anytime now." Hughes calculated.

So for the first fifteen minuets, they did paperwork or whatever they do and weren't surprised at all when Ed didn't show up after being ten minuets late. He often came into work up to a half hour later then he was supposed to. But, after an hour of waiting, Roy and Hughes got bored and decided to go wake Ed up and hull him to the office.

* * *

Yes, I know it's short but the next chapter will be longer. I mean really long. I already have it written. Anyway, thanks again to DarkInuHanyou, Shadewolf7, Nazaye Mikomi, Dark Angel Maybe, LonelyInACrowd, and Onyxlight for the great review. Keep them coming everyone! Since I won't be able to post again until Saturday, Happy Valentines Day!

Panthera Nocte


	3. Wake up Edward

And here's the long chapter that everyone's been wanting for. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter #3:

"Ugh! I hate the dorms. They're so… shitty." Hughes shuttered while being grossed out at the conditions of the military dorms.

"Yah. I don't know why Ed and Al still stay here. They have more than enough money to rent an apartment." Roy wondered out loud. Hughes nodded I agreement as the approached the Elric's dorm room.

Roy knocked on the door and they waited for Ed to answer it. Again he knocked on the when Ed didn't come to the door. Finally, he had had enough.

"Fullmetal, if you're in there, answer this door right now! That's an order!" Mustang yelled at the inanimate object. The Colonel fumed in the hallway when the short blond didn't respond. "Lazy, short midget, #$#."

"Calm down Roy. He's probably not in there." Hughes said trying to calm Roy down. While doing so, he leaned down on the door handle a fell into Ed's room when the knob turned.

"What!?! You were open this whole time!?!" Roy screamed once again at the inanimate object.

"Shut up Roy, will you be quiet?" Hughes hissed at the other man. "We might as well look around for awhile and see if the kid has any more info on his last mission."

As the two walked around the tiny doom, they realized how tiny it really was. There was one bedroom, a small kitchen, and a little bathroom.

"If he left anything he probably left it in the bedroom. I'll go check." Hughes said as he motioned for Roy to stay where he was. As Roy looked around, a few pictures in the bare room caught his eye. It was a picture of Ed, Al, and Winry last year on Ed's 17th birthday. The life that shown in the short blonds' eyes, was so different for the dull, glazed over look of yesterday.

xxxxxxHughes sneaking up behind Royxxxxxx

"What's up buddy?"

"OMG!!! You almost gave me a heart attack Hughes." Roy hissed.

"I couldn't resist. Hahaha. And besides, the bedroom door is locked. Do you have a paperclip or something?" Hughes asked.

"Wait a second." sighed Roy as he dug threw his pockets in search of the desired object. "OK. I got one. Let's go."

* * *

Once they reached the bedroom door, they picked the lock and walked in to the room.

"Yo Roy, look over there." Hughes motioned towards one of the beds in the room.

There in the middle of the bed, under a large pile of pillows and blanket, with only the end of his golden braid sticking out, was Ed.

"Why that little…! He's been here asleep the whole time!" Roy ranted as he moved towards the bed.

"Oh, this should be good." Hughes chuckled.

* * *

"Oh, Edward? Wake up." Roy whispered into Ed's ear in a sweet voice. The lump on the bed didn't move. Again, Roy did the same thing. Still nothing happened. "Fine! If you're not going to wake up, then prepare for torture."

Taking a step back, Roy jumped into the air and talked Ed on the bed. "Wake up and get your ass into the office now Fullmetal." Roy hissed while digging under the blankets for the short teen.

(Cough) "What (cough) was that (cough/hack) for?" (cough/hack/cough) Ed choked out as he tried desperately to regain the sparse amount of air he had used on those four short words.

"Yo, Ed. Are you alright?" Hughes asked. "You sound horrible."

When the coughing blond still couldn't catch his breath, Roy moved off of him and helped him sit up.

"Breath Ed, breath. It's ok." Hughes said, trying to soothe Ed. Finally, after a few minuets, Ed started to breath again.

"Are you ok?"

"What happened?"

"Is everything alright Edward?"

"Say something."

"Will you answer my question already?" Ed managed to hack out with only a few coughs.

With guilty looks on the two elders faces…"We…um…were…looking…for…um…we were looking for your report. Yah, that's it! We were looking for your report.

"Why are you really here?" Ed asked with a sigh.

"Well, when you didn't come into the office, Roy here decided that we should come and drag you there." Hughes said mater-of-factly.

"I'm awake now so just give me a second to change, and then I'll go." Ed replied while getting up off the bed slowly.

"Ed, even Breda could tell that you're sick" Roy said as he pushed Ed back into the mound of blankets. "You should just go back to seep and come in tomorrow."

"I'm fine really. It's just a cold and besides, I'm awake now and I won't be able to sleep anymore." Ed retorted.

"Fine. You have ten minuets; we'll wait for you outside." Roy sighed as he and Hughes headed towards the door.

* * *

As soon as Ed heard the door click shut, he fell into another coughing fit.

"Damn it, that hurt." He coughed out as he got out of bed and got dressed.

* * *

As soon as the two older men had left the small apartment, they put their ears to the door. When they heard Ed's coughing fit end, they stepped away form the door and leaned against the opposite wall.

"Wow, that sounded really bad." Roy sighed. "He must have one hell of a cold."

"You and I both know he was lying." Hughes sighed.

* * *

About 10 mins. later:

"Come on Fullmetal. We need to get going." Roy yelled as he pounded on Ed's door.

"Whatever. I'm coming bastard." Ed replied as he put the finishing touches on his braid.

* * *

Thanks for all the reviews and sorry this was a little late. We had our second snow day this year and my notebook was in my locker. Anyway, the next chapter might take awhile b/c I have no free time for the next week. But have no ear, I will update!

Happy President's Day!

Panthera Nocte


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